MANILA (UPDATE) - Four Filipino senior citizens survived the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), bringing the country's total recoveries to 13.

"Ito po ay isang napakagandang balita para sa ating lahat amidst all of this fear, confusion and amidst this crisis," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a press briefing.

(This is such a good news for us amid all the fear, confusion and crisis.)

Among those who recovered was an elderly couple from San Juan City. They were earlier tagged as PH16 and PH17 or patients 16 and 17.

The 70-year-old man and his 69-year-old wife were discharged from the hospital on March 19. Both had hypertension.

Another patient, a 75-year-old woman from Makati City, was meanwhile discharged from the hospital on March 17. She previously traveled to US and was exposed to a COVID-19 case.

The other recovery is a 72-year-old man from Batangas who had exposure to a known COVID-19 case.

The man, who also suffers from hypertension, was reported as a severe case and had recovered. He was discharged from the hospital on March 21.

The fifth recovery is a 35-year-old woman from Rizal who had no recent travel history or exposure to a COVID-19 patient. The woman, who had pre-existing asthma, was discharged from the hospital on March 15.

COVID-19 may be fatal for the elderly, the immunocompromised, and those with underlying medical condition but 80 percent of cases globally showed a high chance of recovery "without needing special treatment," according to the World Health Organization.

WHO said COVID-19 symptoms include fever, tiredness, and dry cough. Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhea.

Meanwhile, Vergeire said there had been no concrete proof of a recurring COVID-19.

"Merong nagsasabi that there is reinfection, merong nagsasabi that there is recurrence, pero hanggang sa ngayon dito sa atin, sa bansang ito, wala pang napapatunayan na ganiyan. At hanggang sa ngayon, all over the globe, wala pang hard evidence for this," she said.

(Some reports were saying there is reinfection or recurrence, but in our country, it has not been proven. And right now, all over the globe, there's no hard evidence for this.)

• PH records 77 new cases of COVID-19; total at 307

As of Saturday, the Philippines has 307 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 19 deaths.

To stop the pathogen's spread, President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday placed all Luzon households under home quarantine until April 12.

The novel coronavirus, which has spread to 176 countries and territories, has infected more than 234,000 people and claimed 9,800 lives.

• Tracking COVID-19 cases in the Philippines